Thanks for the support! Really appreciate it. And thanks for taking the time to leave some feedback.
Patrolling is a combat weighted exploration option already. You can also encounter events when hunting/gathering, and that option is less combat weighted. The exact math is the road danger is between 0 and 100, and you roll a number between 1 and 100 - a roll equal to or less than the current road danger results in a fight. Patrolling juices the road danger number by 40 or 50 (somewhere in there).
Just a quick note, it is unlikely that manual saves will be implemented. I'm pretty fond of the current save at the start of each day - and because there aren't any fail states in the game, there's not a lot of incentive to save scum. Who knows though, this may change closer to release.
The exact frequency of events is subject to change, especially as I get more of them made - but I >really< don't want events to happen every day, or even most days, as it really slows down the the game. Right now whenever you go out into the woods it makes a roll to see if you get an event - and if you don't get an event 2 times in a row, it'll make sure you get one on the third go.
Now, all that being said, you have good ideas there and some very reasonable suggestions. I will say that I'm getting started on the Winter season content right now, which places a much bigger emphasis on the patrol gameplay and being self-sufficient (merchants + travelers show up more rarely). A lot of tougher enemies show up in the winter as well.
But, I think you will enjoy the planned Spring gameplay. The inn will become a guild tavern for adventurers, and different job types / contracts will become available for the end-game gameplay loop. Basically you will get different options for the kinds of things you want to engage with when leaving the inn - and also send out adventuring parties to do jobs.
Thanks again, appreciate the feedback!